'Tis the season for advent calendars. And while most Christmas countdowns cough up a measly chunk of chalky chocolate or a couple of Lego pieces, the [artist id="1163298"]Gorillaz[/artist] are promising a bit more robust holiday cheer with their online holiday ticker.

So far, fans clicking on the calendar have gotten some exclusive sound-check footage, links to download Gorillaz masks, online video games, wallpaper, odd photos and a link to the new "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" video with Snoop Dogg. But frequent collaborator and artist Jamie Hewlett recently said a much-bigger prize is on the horizon.

, Hewlett confirmed that the iPad album Gorillaz singer Damon Albarn has been recording on the road will surface on Christmas morning as a free release for fans.

"At the moment, we've got an advent calendar on our website, and there is a daily door that opens to reveal a gift," Hewlett told the site.

"On Christmas Eve, a video for one of the new songs from the iPad album will be released. Then, on Christmas Day, fans get the whole album downloaded to their computer for free as a gift."

Though the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am has been touting the wonders of recording on an iPad, Albarn said he was keen to record the world's first iPad-only album.

"I wanted to make sure that it came out at the end of the tour, because I don't want anyone to think I'd tampered with it," he said from an Australian tour stop. "I literally made it on the road in America over a month. I didn't write it before; I didn't prepare it. I just did it day by day as a kind of diary of my experience in America."

No word yet on a track listing or if the album will feature the array of guests typically associated with a Gorillaz album.

Will you download the new Gorillaz album on Christmas Day? Tell us in the comments below!